Mid-City Neighborhood Organization

Update: The zoning meeting planned for this Thursday evening has been canceled, as Jesuit has just notified MCNO that the purchase has been put on hold indefinitely. We don’t have details beyond this. We will keep the community abreast of any changes.
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Thanks to everyone who attended last night’s Mid-City neighborhood meeting. For those who were unable to attend, here is a brief summary. The next meeting is Monday October 6th, 6:30pm at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street.

Lt. Cambiotti and Sgt Davillier of the First District reported on their efforts during Gustav — evacuation through re-entry– and the results. There were only 2 instances of Looting, 4 Auto thefts, 5 Business Burglaries and 10 residence burglaries from Sunday Aug 31 - Sat Sep 6th. There were NO persons crimes in the First District during this time. The First District numbers were very low compared to other districts, which they attribute to the manner in which they utilized their national guard and NOPD patrols. They also made a number of successful arrests related to these crimes. Lt. Cambiotti also reported that their clearance rate for armed robberies is 50% (compared to a national average of less than 30%) and is 28% for business burglaries (again, higher than national average).

Due to the 12-hour shifts and shift change time of 7pm, Major Elder was not able to attend, but did provide some info which was delivered by MCNO Crime Prevention Chair Angie Brenneke.

Angie also spoke about the Mid-City Security District, which comes up for a vote on November 4th. Detailed info on the district can be found at the website. Free Yard signs supporting the creation of the District will be available at the October meeting.

Matt Schwartz of Domain Companies discussed their planned retail development in the 3001 block of Tulane Avenue (across from the Crescent Club apartment development which is under construction). He showed renderings and plans to the group. The development is single-story construction fronting Tulane Avenue with 70 parking spaces in the back (there are houses between the end of the parking lot and Baudin street, so the streetscape on Baudin will not change). Capitol One Bank is one of the anchor tenants, with a Restaurant or Restaurant/Gourmet Market combo sought for the other Corner Anchor. The smaller tenants will include a nail salon and dry cleaner. They are seeking other “neighborhood convenience” retailers to finish out the space. They expect to begin construction in November.

Kris Potthurst of New Orleans Food and Farm Network announced their new home at 4840 Banks Street. They will hold their first “Grow Mo’ Better” training session — Getting Started on a Vegetable Garden at this location on Saturday Sep 20. You can find details and sign up (there is a $3 fee) on their website. Also, Kris announced that they are developing a sustainable farmers market and urban training farm at the former Guillot’s Nursery on Olive Street in Holly grove (behind the Carrollton Ave Post Office). This is spitting distance from Mid-City and will be a great amenity to the City!

Tracy Hamlin of MCNO discussed the Block Captain program which still needs a number of volunteers from all areas of Mid-City to fully establish a complete communication network. Were you contacting your neighbors to inform them when power came back after Gustav, or perhaps to let them know what businesses were open? If so, you were an impromptu Block Captain. This is the type of communication network we are trying to establish! Please contact Tracy at hamlinhs@bellsouth.net and provide your name, email, phone and address to become a Block Captain.

Jeannette Thompson of MCNO discussed the recently released School Facilities Master Plan which poses some serious changes for Mid-City. If you are able to volunteer in the next two weeks to help read and write comments on the Mid-City aspects of the plan, please contact Jeannette at library@mcno.org. The Public Comment period ends Sept 20, so this is urgent.

I gave a brief update on the Housing Survey. A detailed update will be provided by Jennifer Farwell at the October Meeting.

The Zoning Committee announced a Zoning Meeting to be held Thursday Sept 18th, 6:30pm at Grace Episcopal to hear a presentation by Jesuit regarding the square bounded by Baudin, D’Hemecourt, Alexander, Hennessey. Jesuit would like to convert this square into a practice field.

Finally, we heard from 2 candidates for School Board District 3 (Downtown side of Canal). These were Davin Boldissar and Amy Lafont. We also heard from Hunter Harris, Candidate for Criminal Court Section F Judge.

As you can see, we covered a lot of ground and some very important issues. Make plans now to attend the October 6th meeting!

We will hold the September neighborhood meeting on Monday Sept 8 at 6:30 pm as planned.

Please join us at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal street.